News, 27/02/2017

Rye bread reigns as *the* Finnish food

With Finland celebrating 100 years of independence in 2017, a group of Finnish culinary experts decided it was high time to select an official national food. The idea forms part of a wider campaign to celebrate Finnish food culture and encourage everyone to cherish quintessentially Finnish foods.

“The idea of publicly choosing a national food proved to be very popular,” says Seija Kurunmäki, executive director of the ELO Foundation for the Promotion of Finnish Food Culture. “In the first round of the vote, about 10,000 people responded with suggestions proposing 1,000 different foods. From these ideas a jury of experts chose a shortlist of 12 nationally popular dishes for the final vote.”